Day 290 - Your True Nature

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 119

         

Michael’s book is available through:

Abiding Life Ministries International

Littleton, Colorado

(303) 972-0859       www.abidinglife.com

Notice:  this email is part of a BLOG, called Living Life With a Capital “C”.  Why a blog?  So that many can receive the weekly thoughts I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner. 

There is nothing more foundational in life than man’s “true nature.”  Far too often we look at the outside instead of the inside in determining our thoughts and our conclusions about someone…when all is determined greatly by the “inside” (“true nature”).  Michael gives us a beautiful look at what God is up to in the lives of His kids.  May this day’s writing give you a new outlook for the future!

DAY 290

Your True Nature

Until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. –Ephesians 4:13

In a village next to the Niger River I noticed a cage holding one lone, odd-looking eagle.  All of the basic features were there, and it was white on the body, neck, and two-thirds of the wings, but the end of the wings and the head were black.  I was told, “That is a white eagle.”  That seemed confusing, with the black coloring on the wings and the whole head.  Then it was further explained, “It is a young white eagle; as the bird grows, the white will push its way to the tip of the wings and beak.  The mature bird will be completely white in the end.”  Again, all things created are preaching Jesus.  The DNA of the bird dictates that it will be a white bird.  As the bird grows, it expands into what it really is in fact: a white eagle.  It does not become a white eagle; it is a white eagle, even when the black is on it.  Growth and maturity will force out what does not belong to the very nature of the bird.

The head is where thoughts of the flesh hide in hopes of manifesting themselves.  The black on the wings represent our unbelief, the only thing associating us with earthly living.  Would it in any way be possible to stop the growth of this bird?  No, but if it remains caged, the expression and exercise of its growth and maturity would not be seen.  This white eagle gives me hope.  First, it will grow, and what it is will be revealed; it has no choice in the matter.  Second, God will not keep it captive.  There will be a mounting up in the fullness of time.

Imagine giving birth to a child if its actual growth was in your hands and it was up to you to make it grow.  Would you not be a nervous wreck?  You cannot make a child grow, for that is God’s work.  Likewise, you do not make yourself grow spiritually!  That is God’s work, a work that He has ordained by writing into your very DNA that you are a child of God; Christ’s life is written into your very nature.  In the end, you cannot make one hair (one feather) black or white.  Your “color” is the outgrowth of the new nature that He has given you.

By the way, eagles devour the serpent and are feared by all the other little creatures that sneak about.

Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point      Green – IT, Incredible Truth        

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches           Pink – PV, Priceless Victory

How important is it to each one of us to KNOW that “Christ’s life is written into our very nature”?!?  Wow!  Every Christian’s “true nature” is God Himself.

So, check out the beauty of this in our everyday lives:

1. We do not make ourselves grow spiritually…that is God’s work.

2. Growth and maturity will force out what does not belong in our life (to our “true

    nature”).

3. The end result of God’s work in our life is the outgrowth of the new nature that

    He gave us at our New Birth (when we were Born Again).

4. Our “true nature” is that of an Overcomer, and all that is opposed to our “true

    nature” is afraid of any encounter with Him.

So, I sit here thinking as we come to the annual celebration of the earthly birth of our Lord Jesus Christ tomorrow, how can I tell more people in 2015 about this One who longs to:

·         become their “true nature” if they have never trusted Him to be their Savior

·         be realized as their source of ALL in life if they are Believers

May God give all Believers a real heart for witnessing to, and teaching, every person God brings across our path in life this next year.  Amen.

To access ALL past weekly blogs, go to Living Life With a Capital “C” by logging onto www.leemccm.blogspot.com   

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries

leemccm@gmail.com

P. O. Box 633244    Nacogdoches, Tx 75963                                        936-559-5696

Day 5 - A Special Experience

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 118

         

Michael’s book is available through:

Abiding Life Ministries International

Littleton, Colorado

(303) 972-0859       www.abidinglife.com

Notice:  this email is part of a BLOG, called Living Life With a Capital “C”.  Why a blog?  So that many can receive the weekly thoughts I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner. 

We are one week from celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ in 2014, and there are many particulars His birth involves us in.  Ultimately, for every Believer, He births again IN US.  He is our NEW BIRTH.  Because of His first birth, there was the Cross…and because of the Cross, there can be a New Birth in Believers.  In this day’s writing, Michael speaks to some things that could only be truth because first “the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.”

Day 5

A Special Experience

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. --John 1:14

On a particular night a pastor gave me complete freedom to speak, and I will always remember it. The topic I chose was an attribute of God I appreciate so much: faithfulness. We have failed, but He is faithful and does not keep lists of wrongs, is not provoked, and is steadfast when we are faithless. The congregation was receptive, and I believe that God revealed a new aspect of who He is to many. The pastor took the stage and began to pray and weep. As one the group prayed for God to reveal that He is a loving Father. All month I had been practicing allowing my soul to feed on His wisdom, His will, and His peace that are in me. I must admit that my soul was very full. When we began to sing "Hold me now and let your love surround me," I was expecting just that, but love did not merely surround me! My soul was so full of His love that it began to flow out of me to others. I wanted to run and hug everyone, to pray for the sick, and to pray for those in distress, though not me, but Him in me. The overflow of my soul was of Him, and I could see that His love in me wanted to take the form of flesh and blood to minister in a concrete way. I was not just preaching about love but demonstrating it! I could see how the Word became flesh; the soul of Jesus was so completely full of God that a human body could not hold it all, so it spilled out to others. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." Jesus can manifest Himself through us, and we receive the awareness that there is nothing that faith in Him cannot do, nothing that Jesus cannot do. I see that I cannot schedule God, but as my soul is fed, I also see how I could pray for healing and another would receive it, for the Spirit is scheduling me. Christ is in us! Christ knows who needs what, and He can move through us to heal or help. On this day I watched God move from head to heart. We are vehicles for the living Word to take form. We are not Jesus, or God, or special, but we have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer we who live but Christ that lives in us (as in Galatians 2:20).

Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point      Green – IT, Incredible Truth        

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches           Pink – PV, Priceless Victory

He is faithful!  Amen.  Michael takes us to a realm of glory…God’s glory…that comes when we “work” at allowing our soul to feed on His wisdom, His will, His peace, that is in us.  Then Michael shares how his soul became so full that it overflowed…and THAT overflowing WAS Christ.  And at that moment, CHRIST became flesh to minister through Michael. 

I wonder how many Christians have celebrated for years the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ in the sense of thinking about His being born as a baby in the manger in Bethlehem, and have experienced the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ in the sense of thinking about His being born as a Spirit in their very being…BUT, have not experienced or celebrated His “coming in the flesh” in the sense of overflowing one’s soul and seeing Christ’s love “take the form of flesh and blood to minister in a concrete way”?

I wonder if there would be any shouting, “Glory!  Glory!  Glory to God in the highest…”?

To access ALL past weekly blogs, go to Living Life With a Capital “C” by logging onto www.leemccm.blogspot.com 

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries

leemccm@gmail.com

P. O. Box 633244    Nacogdoches, Tx 75963                                        936-559-5696

Day 8 - All Things Rubbish?

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 117

         

Michael’s book is available through:

Abiding Life Ministries International

Littleton, Colorado

(303) 972-0859       www.abidinglife.com

Notice:  this email is part of a BLOG, called Living Life With a Capital “C”.  Why a blog?  So that many can receive the weekly thoughts I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner. 

I can hear Michael saying, “Boring!”…when someone dribbles on and on about all the things that have happened in their lives and they can’t get past all those things to live in the present.  Same thing when he says, “Rubbish, all rubbish!” 

Look at the simple truth Michael presents to “move on”:

Day 8

All Things Are Rubbish?

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him. --Philippians 3:8

What a statement! “I count them but rubbish.” I wonder if you believe that. What is it that brought you to Christ? What has been the event that took you deeper? Was it a rebellious child, an unbelieving mate, a handicap, financial difficulties, a failed marriage, or an unfulfilled dream? What was it? Did it take you to Jesus, or are you stuck on self? Have you been able to count it as rubbish? Sometimes when someone is telling me about a problem, I say very sternly, “Rubbish, all rubbish!” The event that brought a person to a deeper walk with Christ is not as important as the walk. The lesser gives way to the greater. Some are just stuck at their disappointment because of not having admitted that the whole thing is rubbish. Yes, divorce is a tragedy and a failure on someone’s part, but we do not let such a shortcoming define us. The Lord defines our lives, and if He is for us then who can be against us? We simply let Him define us. Paul’s comment came out of deep losses, and yet when he could see the comparative worth of knowing Jesus, those things became as rubbish. 

Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point      Green – IT, Incredible Truth        

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches           Pink – PV, Priceless Victory

Stuck.  To some of us who have spent many years by the coast, memories come to mind of that dreaded moment when we started our vehicle and thought we were going to leave the sandy beach and head to the house…but we went nowhere.  Spinning tires in place, digging a deeper hole that often times meant we couldn’t get out apart from calling a wrecker.  Stuck.  A dreaded feeling.  A hopeless feeling.

One of the reasons we got “stuck” as often as we did: we didn’t learn a lesson as to why we got “stuck” the last time.  Other times we just chose to “go where we shouldn’t have gone.”  Either way, we got “stuck.”  And it wasn’t fun.

Getting “stuck” in life isn’t fun either.  Michael gives us 4 things to focus on:

1. What event or person has “happened”…did they bring us to Christ?  Or, are we  stuck on self?

2. Have we been able to count them all as rubbish?

3. Have we come to understand that NO EVENT that brought us to Christ, or to a deeper walk with Christ, is as important as THE WALK?

4. Have we come to the point of living what Paul lived: “I count ALL things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord…and count (all those “things”) but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him”?

Well, amen.  God is the God of the present.  Let us let Him define our lives.  Let us trust in His being for us, and nothing or no one can be against us (to make a difference in our life).  Let us count all “those things” as rubbish.

There is nothing the nearness of Christ cannot overcome. 

To access ALL past weekly blogs, go to Living Life With a Capital “C” by logging onto www.leemccm.blogspot.com 

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries

leemccm@gmail.com

P. O. Box 633244    Nacogdoches, Tx 75963                                          936-559-5696

Day 303 - Too Easy on Sin!

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 116

         

Michael’s book is available through:

Abiding Life Ministries International

Littleton, Colorado

(303) 972-0859       www.abidinglife.com

Notice:  this email is part of a BLOG, called Living Life With a Capital “C”.  Why a blog?  So that many can receive the weekly thoughts I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner. 

It is a common complaint among church members that the preacher is too easy on sin…not enough preaching on sin.  Even though every one of them doesn’t want the preacher to preach on “their sin,” they love to hear hard preaching on someone else’s sin.  It is like the recognition of others’ sins softens the blow of one’s own sin eating on them.

DAY 303

Too Easy on Sin!

Do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him. --Hebrews 12:5

But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord in order that we may not be condemned along with the world. --I Corinthians 11:32

Often after finishing the first few lectures in the Abiding Life seminar I will be questioned as to whether I am not being too easy on sin. There is an interesting fear among many that unbelievers and other believers may think that they are in some way going to get away with sin. These people would like to hear me stress that God is going to judge them. However, there are inherent, biblical problems with emphasizing judgment. First, our sin judges us on the spot. Because we are held together by Christ, to invite something that is anti-Christ into our being is to invite immediate judgment; it is too late to warn people after they have sinned, for sin brings its own judgment with it.

Second, if any believe that the Abiding Life message is easy on sin, we ask them to look to the cross. God is not easy on sin; He always made it clear that sin required a blood sacrifice, and His Son died because of sin. The popular term "cheap grace" must never be uttered. Grace is not cheap; it cost the Son. God is not easy on sin or man's inner life that sins, for He crucified it. The cross proclaims to all that God is concerned with sin. To say that we need His life is an acknowledgment of our concern. I will not listen to that accusation.

Third, when I hear, "People must know that God will judge their sin," I know it is a statement of unbelief. God has already judged all men in Christ. To wait around for judgment is to wait for something that has already happened. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him" (Romans 5:8 & 9). "That God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them" (II Corinthians 5:19).

Fourth, the person who worries about sin's not being preached has forgotten that he came to Christ through the preaching of the good news. All men have sinned and have recognition of that fact. The idea that Christians are sinning because they are ignorant is not plausible. The Holy Spirit is faithful to shed light on our sin. Again, God did judge sin in the form of Jesus Christ, and because of this judgment we have received grace and mercy. Therefore, grace and mercy is our message.

Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point      Green – IT, Incredible Truth        

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches           Pink – PV, Priceless Victory

Michael gives us some very important realizations of how God has dealt with man’s sin, how man KNOWS when he has sinned, how sad it is that man has such an inaccurate and inappropriate focus on sin, and what IS the message of the Cross.  And we wonder why so many Christians are living in bondage, and fear, and confusion, and division??? 

What is it about being “free” and under “no condemnation” that Christians cannot seem to accept and live joyously with? 

Scripture differentiates between judgment and discipline…and Christians can’t seem to grasp the difference.  In fact, it is almost incredible that many don’t want to recognize when God is disciplining them! 

Michael makes an astounding statement that proves to be so true: “…our sin judges us on the spot.”  And then he adds.  “Because we are held together by Christ, to invite something that is anti-Christ into our being is to invite immediate judgment…sin brings its own judgment with it.”  Wow!  We don’t need preachers “judging” sin…we don’t need God “judging our sin”…our sin brings its own judgment!

So, when are we going to learn that sin is to invite something anti-Christ into our being that is held together by Christ…therefore bringing about a division of our life?  Chaos instead of calm.  Depression instead of peace.  Dissension instead of oneness.  And our message is to be “grace and mercy,” instead of judgment.

To access ALL past weekly blogs, go to Living Life With a Capital “C” by logging onto www.leemccm.blogspot.com 

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries

leemccm@gmail.com

P. O. Box 633244    Nacogdoches, Tx 75963                                       936-559-5696